


We Were Nothing Like The Rest

by BetsyByron



Series: Collected wee fics [8]
Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Cat Charles, Ficlet, First Meetings, Snippets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-28
Updated: 2014-06-28
Packaged: 2018-02-06 15:25:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1862820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BetsyByron/pseuds/BetsyByron
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Meet cute.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Were Nothing Like The Rest

**Author's Note:**

> I have approximately a bazillion WIPs that are not really ever going to be finished (I profoundly suck at endings), so I decided to dust up what I could and post a few stand-alone ficlets. 
> 
> So here you have, just a scene in the life of the Cherik fandom :)

Raven lived in a tiny apartment under the roof of an old building, and Erik better understood why she’d never invited him over before – he had to bow his head in most parts of the flat.

“I’d have suggested the usual coffee shop.” She said in an apologetic tone. “But this is quite serious, and I really need you to understand.”

Erik made a noncommittal hum of agreement. The only thing she’d told him so far was that she needed his help ‘finding someone’. That was within his range of capacities, but he didn’t approve of just anything, so he was still waiting to hear it. He hadn’t known Raven that long; she just was the fiercest girl he’d ever met, and one of the first whose company he, if not enjoyed, tolerated.

“Charles?” Raven called, dropping her keys, shrugging off her coat and toeing off her boots without, miraculously, losing her balance.

Erik was about to ask if she lived with someone, but a cat trotted into sight. It was striped black, grey and reddish brown, white on its belly and paws, and the bluest blue eyes. It looked straight at Erik and stopped. Raven raised a brown, looking down.

_Charles, did you just…I know you purr, but did you just **purr**?_

_I did not._ Charles protested, scowling at his sister – which somehow had become much more efficient since he was a cat. _Well._ He amended. _You have to acknowledge. He’s…_

He looked at Erik again, and, admittedly, sort of purred.

_Oh for God’s sake, Charles. Control yourself, he’s here to help._

“Are you having a staring contest with your cat?” Erik intervened, unaware of the conversation that was going on telepathically.

 _Are you feeling left out?_ Charles thought at him.

Erik froze. Cat-Charles looked over at his sister, bashfully – _Was he not supposed to know?_ Erik turned to Raven, very slowly.

“Did the cat just talk to me?” He asked carefully.

Charles hopped on the small half-moon table, attempting to be at more of an eye level with the two-legged mutants in the room.

 _I’m Charles._ He projected for the both of them to hear. _I’m not actually a cat, but I’m actually a telepath, which is convenient in this…unfortunate turn of events. One of Raven’s “friends” has the ability to shape-shift_ other people _. I sort of pissed him off, so he decided it would be good sport to turn me into a feline, only now he’s off the grid, and I’m stuck in this fur._

“Is this.” Erik had to swallow, his mouth gone dry. “Is this for real?”

Raven sighed.

“Smooth, Charles.” She told him off. “I sort of wanted to first let Erik know that there were other people with abilities like his, but oh well.”

If he’d had eyebrows, Charles would have cocked them. Still his cat eyes widened a little.

 _You’d never met other mutants?_ He asked Erik.

 _I thought I was alone._ Erik answered in his head, half to test the telepath’s abilities, and half because it felt too intimate a revelation to say out loud.

 _Raven, can we get some-_ Charles interrupted himself, and hissed frustratingly. _Damn I wish I could have tea. Coffee, I think, for Erik. Milk for me if you would? At least I’m not lactose intolerant. It’s bad enough that tea is now toxic to me._

Out loud, the cat made a small gasping noise, and Erik caught himself smiling.

“This is the craziest thing I’ve ever encountered.” He confessed. “And there I thought I was off charts.”

 _Oh my friend_. Charles said with a smile in his tone. _You should see what Raven can do._

Erik turned to Raven, surprised and expectant, and she pretended to be shy about it for most part of a second, before she turned from rosy-cheeked blonde to rough-skinned blue woman. Erik’s jaw actually fell.

“Mein Gott.” He breathed. “This is magnificent.”

“Please.” Raven waved her hand coyly, not-very-secretly delighted. “Charles is the pretty one in the family.”

To illustrate, in a rustle of blue scales, she turned into a pixie-sized brunette with a killer smile, and eyes the exact same blue as those of the cat. Fascinatingly, candidly blue.

“Indeed.” Erik commented earnestly.

 _Ha!_ Raven thought at Charles triumphantly. _I knew you’d be more his type. Now I’m sure he’s going to want you back as well._

_Raven!_

The room seemed to blush, which made Erik peer at the cat-Charles curiously. Raven turned back into herself – the blonde version – and addressed a little shrug to the man.

“He projects.” She offered as an explanation of the suddenly embarrassed atmosphere. “Usually you just have to feel the way he feels.”

 _That is not true._ Charles defended himself. _I just have less control in this form._

“Coffee.” Erik suddenly decided, ushering everyone in the direction he could see was the living-room. “Make it Irish.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> And then Erik found the guy and he turned Charles back into Charles and they lived happily ever after. The end :)


End file.
